Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
TINY
I watch Lucy sleep in my bed at the clubhouse.
Her breathing stays even and slow. The marks on her wrists look less red today.
I run my thumb gently over one of them. She doesn't wake.
Relief sits heavy in my chest every time I look at her.
She made it back. She's here safe with me.
I keep touching her hair or her shoulder just to remind myself it's real.
A quiet knock comes at the door. I ease off the bed and open it. Pres stands there. He keeps his voice low.
"Her dad called. He wants to see her. Says he needs to talk."
My jaw tightens. "He can wait."
"Said it was important. About what happened." Pres watches me carefully. "Your call, brother."
I nod once. "She needs the rest, but I'll ask her when she wakes up."
Pres claps my shoulder. "Club's behind you both. Whatever comes next."
I close the door and head back to the bed.
My chest tightens just thinking about Frank Parker.
The man who tried to control Lucy her whole life.
The man whose big mouth to a stranger got her kidnapped and tied to a chair in a Southside Kings clubhouse.
I want to put my fist through a wall just thinking about it.
Lucy stirs. Her eyes open and find mine. She gives me a small smile, and it hits me right in the gut. I lean down and kiss her forehead.
"Morning. Or afternoon. You slept for a while."
She stretches carefully before sitting up. "I feel better. Sore, but better." Her hand finds mine. "What's going on?"
"Your dad called. He wants to see you. Sounds like he's got some things to say."
Her expression changes. Something complicated flashes through her eyes. Fear. Anger. Maybe both.
"What'd he say?"
"Just that he needs to talk. About what happened." I squeeze her hand. "You don't have to see him. Not yet. Not ever if you don't want to."
She thinks about it for a long minute. Her fingers tighten around mine.
"I want to see him. I need to hear what he has to say." She looks up at me. "But I need you there. Please."
"I'm not going anywhere."
We get ready slowly. I help her into her jacket. She leans into me as we walk out to the truck. The drive to her parents' house feels heavy. I keep one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around hers. My chest's full of everything I want to say to Frank Parker. Most of it involves threats.
"Whatever happens in there," Lucy says quietly, "I'm not going back to how things were. I can't."
"You won't have to."
The house looks the same as always. Neat lawn. Porch light on even though it's still afternoon.
I park the truck, and we sit there for a minute.
Lucy takes a deep breath.
"Okay. I'm ready."
Frank opens the door before we reach the porch. He looks like he's aged ten years in the past week. His eyes are red. His shoulders slump forward. When he sees Lucy, his face crumples.
"Lucy. Thank God."
He moves to hug her, but I step between them without thinking. My hand settles against Lucy's back.
Frank stops short.
His eyes meet mine, and something passes between us. Fear maybe. Or respect. Hard to tell.
"Tiny," he says, his voice rough. "I..."
"Inside."
My voice comes out flat.
"Whatever you've got to say, say it inside."
He nods and steps back.
We follow him into the living room. Karen sits on the couch, twisting her hands together in her lap. The second she sees Lucy, she jumps to her feet and pulls her into a hug.
"Oh, sweetheart. I was so worried. Are you okay?"
Lucy hugs her back.
"I'm okay, Mom. I promise."
Karen pulls away and looks at me. Tears fill her eyes.
"Thank you. For bringing her home."
I nod once. The words stick in my throat.
We all sit down. Lucy stays close beside me on the loveseat. Frank settles into the same chair he'd been sitting in when he told Lucy she was throwing her life away. When he gave her that ultimatum.
The air feels thick with everything nobody's said.
Frank clears his throat. His hands shake where they rest on his knees.
"I don't know where to start."
"Start with the truth," Lucy says.
Her voice is steadier than I expected.
He flinches.
"The truth is... I messed up. Worse than messed up. I..." His voice breaks. He covers his face with his hands for a second. When he looks back up, his eyes are wet.
"I was at Murphy's Bar. Three nights before they took you. I was angry. Drinking more than I should've. This man sat down next to me. Ray, he said his name was. Friendly. Asked about my day."
My whole body goes tense.
Lucy finds my hand and squeezes it hard.
"I started talking," Frank says quietly.
"About you. About how my daughter was throwing her life away for some biker.
How she wouldn't listen to reason. How she was sneaking around with this man from a motorcycle club.
" He looks at me then. Shame fills his eyes.
"I described you. Described the club. Said my daughter worked at a clinic, and I didn't know what to do anymore. "
The room falls silent.
Karen lets out a small sound and covers her mouth.
"He bought me another drink," Frank continues. "Told me he knew people who could help. People who could scare you straight, Lucy. Make you see what kind of danger you were putting yourself in."
His voice cracks again. "I thought he meant they'd talk to you. Maybe show up at the clinic and warn you about club life. I didn't think..." He swallows hard. "I didn't think they'd take you. Hurt you. I swear to God I didn't know."
"But you gave him the information." Even to my own ears, my voice sounds dangerous. "You told a stranger where your daughter worked. What she looked like. Who she was seeing."
I hold his stare. "You handed her over."
Frank's face crumples.
"Yeah." He nods once. "I did. And I'll live with that for the rest of my life."
Lucy sits perfectly still beside me. I can feel her shaking.
"You were so angry at me for choosing Tiny that you told a stranger how to find me."
"I wasn't thinking straight," Frank says quickly. "I was drunk, angry, and scared of losing you."
"You already lost me."
Her voice isn't loud, but it cuts through the room.
She stands.
"You lost me the day you told me my dreams didn't matter. The day you said my only value was finding a husband." Tears spill down her cheeks, but she doesn't look away from him. "You lost me every time you brushed off what I wanted because you thought you knew better."
Frank lowers his head.
"And then..." Her voice catches. She wipes at her face before looking at him again. "You almost got me killed because you couldn't stand that I chose someone who actually sees me."
His shoulders sag.
"You're right."
His voice barely carries across the room.
"About all of it."
He looks over at Karen.
"I've spent years telling myself I was protecting my family." He lets out a humorless laugh. "That's what I called it anyway."
Karen's eyes stay fixed on him.
"But I wasn't protecting anyone." He shakes his head slowly. "I was controlling everything because it made me feel safe."
He turns back to Lucy.
"I watched you grow up, and every time you wanted something different than what I'd planned, I pushed harder." His eyes fill again. "I convinced myself it was because I knew what was best."
He looks down at his hands.
"I didn't."
The room stays quiet.
"I kept trying to make your life fit inside the picture I'd built in my head." His voice cracks. "I wanted you to marry the right man. Stay close to home. Live the life I thought was respectable."
He looks at me.
"And because of that..." He swallows. "I couldn't even see the man standing in front of me."
I don't say anything.
"I judged you before I ever knew you."
"You did," I answer.
"I know."
He nods.
"I saw tattoos. Leather. A motorcycle club." He shakes his head again. "I never bothered to look any deeper."
Karen reaches over and places a hand on his arm.
Frank closes his eyes for a second.
"And I treated your mother the same way."
Karen stiffens.
"I told myself I was leading our family." He laughs once, bitter and full of regret. "Truth is, I made every decision. I decided where we'd live. What we'd spend. What she'd do. I called it taking care of her."
His voice grows quieter.
"I never asked what she wanted."
Karen finally speaks.
"You never did."
He looks at her.
"I'm sorry."
She doesn't answer.
Instead, tears slide silently down her cheeks.
Frank wipes at his own eyes.
"I watched your mother's light fade over the years, and I still couldn't admit I was the reason."
He looks back at Lucy.
"Then you started pushing back."
Lucy doesn't move.
"You wanted school. You wanted your own future. You wanted choices." He shakes his head. "Every time you fought for yourself, I dug my heels in harder."
His voice breaks again.
"I was wrong."
Nobody says anything.
"I should've been proud that you were becoming your own person."
Lucy folds her arms across herself.
"Instead you kept trying to make me someone else."
"I did."
He doesn't even try to argue.
"And then..."
His breathing catches.
"When they called and said you were missing..."
He stops.
For several seconds, he can't get another word out.
"I knew."
The room is completely still.
"I knew the second they said your name that I'd done this."
He presses both hands against his face before dragging them down slowly.
"I kept hearing every word I'd told that man at the bar."
His voice drops to almost nothing.
"I handed him everything he needed."
Karen begins crying openly now.
"I've never hated myself the way I did that night."
He looks at me again.
"Then your club showed up."
His eyes stay on mine.
"I watched every one of you move without hesitation."
I don't answer.
"You organized in minutes."
His voice carries more emotion now.
"You rode into a Southside Kings clubhouse knowing you might not come back."
He shakes his head.
"I've never seen loyalty like that."
His eyes drift toward Lucy.
"And I've never seen anyone love my daughter the way you do."
I feel Lucy's hand slip into mine again.
"You didn't ask her to become someone else."
His voice is steady now.